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CIRCULAR No

CIRCULAR No. 20/2002/TT-BGDDT OF APRIL 12, 2002 GUIDING THE ISSUANCE OF DIPLOMA AND CERTIFICATE DUPLICATES AND THE CERTIFICATION OF OTHER PAPERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD

Pursuant to the Government�s Decree No. 75/2000/ND-CP of December 8, 2000 on notarization and authentication;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister�s Directive No. 01/2001/CT-TTg of March 5, 2001 on the implementation of the Government�s Decree on notarization and authentication;

The Ministry of Education and Training hereby guides the issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates and the certification of other papers related to study and examination results in the educational field under Article 73 of Decree No. 75/2000/ND-CP as follows:

I. ISSUANCE OF DUPLICATES OF DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES

1. Diploma and certificate duplicates in this Circular are construed as printed copies prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, containing the full contents as the originals (but having designs and symbols for distinction from the originals, and printed with the word "duplicate") and the certification of the diploma- or certificate-issuing agencies.

2. Duplicates of diploma and certificates of the national educational system prescribed in this Circular include:

a/ Duplicates of primary education graduation diplomas, junior and senior secondary education graduation diplomas, professional secondary education graduation diplomas, vocational training graduation diplomas, college graduation diplomas, university graduation diplomas, master�s diplomas and doctoral diplomas.

b/ Duplicates of physical education certificates, defense education certificates, non-formal education certificates, job certificates issued by the general technical and vocational training centers or professional secondary education schools, foreign language certificates, informatics certificates, and other certificates issued by educational institutions according to current regulations.

3. Duplicates of diplomas and certificates issued by schools, educational centers, competent educational administration agencies (hereinafter called collectively as educational institutions) simultaneously with the originals or from the original registers shall be as valid as those copies notarized or authenticated under Decree No. 75/2000/ND-CP. The issuees of the original diplomas or certificates shall be entitled to request, if so wishing, the educational institutions which have issued the originals, to issue the duplicates thereof from the original registers, or request the public notaries the People�s Committees of urban or rural districts, provincial towns or cities to notarize or authenticate their copies according to the provisions of Articles 21 and 22 of Decree No. 75.

4. The notarization of the translations of diplomas, certificates and papers from Vietnamese into foreign languages or vice versa shall be effected at the public notaries; the notarization or authentication of the copies of foreign-language papers, diplomas and certificates shall be effected at the public notaries or the district-level People�s Committees according to the provisions in Articles 21 and 22 of Decree No. 75.

5. Principles for the issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates

a/ The educational institutions competent to issue the original diplomas and certificates (under the provisions of the Education Law) shall have the right as well as responsibility to issue the duplicates thereof.

b/ The heads of the educational institutions who are competent to sign the original diplomas and certificates shall have the competence as well as responsibility to sign the duplicates thereof and take responsibility therefor before law.

c/ The contents of the diploma and certificate duplicates shall be inscribed exactly as the contents of the originals; in the process of issuance of duplicates it is strictly forbidden to let any cheating or errors occur.

d/ Diploma and certificate duplicates shall be issued simultaneously with the originals or from the original registers (diploma or certificate issuance registers) if the issuees of the originals so request.

e/ The issuance of the diploma and certificate duplicates must be recorded in the diploma or certificate duplicate issuance registers.

6. Procedures for and order of issuance of duplicates

a/ The requesters of the issuance of diploma or certificate duplicates together with the originals thereof upon their graduation must register such in advance with the educational institutions competent to issue such diplomas or certificates.

b/ The requesters of the issuance of diploma or certificate duplicates from the original registers may request in person or by mail the issuance of diploma or certificate duplicates and pay the prescribed fees to the educational institutions which have issued the originals.

For direct requests, if the duplicate-issuing institutions find that all conditions are properly satisfied, the issuance of duplicates shall be effected immediately on the day. For requests for duplicates in a large quantity or the signer is not available on the day, an appointment must be made within three working days.

For mailed requests, the issuance of duplicates shall be effected within only three working days after the date the institutions competent to issue the duplicates receive the requests and fees and find that all conditions are properly satisfied.

c/ For the cases specified at Point b of this Section, the dossiers of request for diploma or certificate duplicates consist of:

- For those who possess no diploma or certificate originals, when applying in person for the duplicates thereof, they must:

+ Submit the written requests for diploma or certificate duplicates, containing the full contents of the original diplomas or certificates, and the required number of duplicates.

+ Produce the people�s identity card or other valid papers (study book, household residence book, or the paper of introduction by the agency where the requester is working).

If the requesters possess the original diplomas or certificates and present them when requesting in person the duplicates thereof, they do not need to submit the above-mentioned papers.

- For the persons authorized by the holders of the original diplomas or certificates to request the duplicates thereof, they must:

+ Submit the authorization letter of the original holder, containing the full contents of the original diploma or certificate; the full name of the authorizing person, his/her permanent address and people�s identity card number, the required number of duplicates, the full name of the authorized person and his/her people�s identity card number, the authorization contents, and the authorizing person�s undertaking. The authorization letter must be signed by the authorizing person, the authorized person and certified by the authorizing person�s agency or the administration of the locality where the authorizing person has registered his/her permanent residence.

+ Produce his/her people�s identity card.

- For those requesting by mail duplicates, they must send to the educational institutions which have issued the originals the following:

+ The written request for the issuance of diploma or certificate duplicates, containing the full contents of the original, the requester�s permanent address, and people�s identity card number, and the required number of duplicates. The written request must be certified by the requester�s agency or local administration.

+ A copy of the people�s identity card.

+ The prescribed fee and postage.

7. Tasks and powers of the persons who carry out the duplicate-issuing procedures, and of the requesters of duplicates

a/ The persons who carry out the duplicate-issuing procedures shall have the tasks of receiving the requests and dossiers, inscribing the contents of the duplicates and submitting them for signing and stamping; recording such in the diploma or certificate issuance registers and the duplicate issuance registers.

b/ The persons who carry out the duplicate-issuing procedures must be unbiased and honest and answerable to their agencies and law for carrying out the duplicate-issuing procedures, and have the powers to:

- Issue only the duplicates falling under the competence of their agencies or units; refuse to issue those falling beyond the competence of their agencies or units.

- Ask the requesters of the issuance of duplicates to present the papers necessary for the issuance of duplicates as provided for at Item 6, Point c of this Circular; receive and check these papers; if finding that they are compatible, issue the duplicates; if detecting any forgery, verify it.

c/ The requesters of the issuance of duplicates shall have the following duties and rights:

- They must present all necessary papers related to the issuance of duplicates as provided for at Item 6, Point c, this Circular, and be responsible to law for the validity of these papers.

- To pay fully the prescribed fee and postage for issuance of duplicates.

- To ask the educational institutions competent to issue diploma or certificate duplicates to satisfy their lawful requests for duplicates: To issue duplicates together with their originals or issue (directly or by mail) duplicates from the original registers under the provisions in this Circular.

II. CERTIFICATION OF OTHER PAPERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD

1. Other papers related to the study and examination results in the educational field include: study books, transcripts, study course completion certificates, excellent pupils� contest results, Olympic contest results, art performance or sport competition results� (hereinafter collectively called papers), which are issued by competent educational institutions.

2. The competent educational institutions which have issued the original papers shall have the right as well as duty to certify the copies thereof. The certification of these copies must be recorded in the copy certification registers.

3. The certification of papers shall be effected only on the basis of their originals; the papers� copies (for certification) may be photocopied, printed, or computer type-written ones but must contain full contents as their originals.

4. The heads of the competent educational institutions which have signed the original papers shall have the duty to sign for certification or may authorize their immediate subordinates to sign for certification these papers according to the following specific provisions:

a/ For the Ministry of Education and Training: The minister may authorize the director of the Ministry�s Office to sign for certification the papers and affix thereon the Ministry�s stamp.

b/ For the universities, colleges and professional secondary schools: The principals may authorize the heads of the training sections to sign for certification the papers and affix thereon the school�s stamp.

c/ For the provincial/municipal Education and Training Services, the district-level Education and Training Sections, the general education schools, the educational centers and other educational institutions: The directors and deputy directors of the provincial/municipal Education and Training Services; the heads of the district-level Education and Training Sections; the principals and vice principals, the directors and deputy directors of the centers; the heads of the educational institutions shall sign for certification the papers and affix the unit�s stamp thereon.

5. The paper certifiers must check the originals and certify their copies if finding that they are compatible; where the certification requesters have prepared in advance the papers� copies for signing for certification, they must compare and scrutinize the contents copied from the originals, if detecting any sign of forgery, they must verify them.

6. To certify the copies of papers, the words "true copy" must be affixed thereon, and the persons competent to sign the papers shall sign and affix the unit�s stamp on the copies copying the signature and stamp of the original papers. Every other paper of the copy must be affixed with the overlapping stamp, and the word "copy" on the blank space on the upper right. After the copies are affixed with the stamp, one shall be archived at the paper-certifying unit.

7. The certification of papers shall also comply with the provisions on the issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates.

III. FEES FOR ISSUANCE OF DUPLICATES AND CERTIFICATION OF PAPERS

The requesters of the issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates, or the certification of papers shall have to pay fees after their requests are met.

The fee rates and the regime of management and use of the fees for the issuance of duplicates or certification of papers shall comply with the regulations of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates under the provisions of this Circular shall be applied to the diplomas and certificates issued from the effective date of this Circular. For those which were issued before that date, the concerned persons can request the notarization from the public notaries or the authentication from the district-level People�s Committees.

2. The units of the educational institutions, which are assigned to manage the issuance of diplomas and certificates, shall have the task to manage the issuance of the duplicates of these institutions� diplomas and certificates.

3. The educational institutions competent to issue diplomas, certificates and other papers of the national educational system under the provisions of the Government�s Decree No. 75/2000/ND-CP of December 8, 2000, the Prime Minister�s Directive No. 01/2001/CT-TTg of March 5 , 2001 and the guidance in this Circular, shall have to arrange qualified personnel, ensure necessary material bases and means and work out plans for the issuance of diploma and certificates duplicates (issued simultaneously with the originals and issued from the original registers) and for the certification of other papers of their own institutions according to regulations.

4. Annually at the beginning of the school year the educational institutions should register at their own initiative the needed quantities of pre-printed forms of duplicates of their diplomas and certificates with the competent agencies (or print them on their own) according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, ensuring enough diploma and certificate duplicates to be issued to the learners simultaneously with the originals upon their graduation or course completion, and at the regular requests for the issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates from the original registers.

5. The educational institutions should notify the learners of the provisions of Decree No. 75 and this Circular and set the issuance timetable for them to register their demands for the issuance of duplicates together with the originals right at the beginning of the school year or at the end of each course so that the units can have enough time for preparing the duplicates together with the original diplomas and certificates and issuing them to the learners at the time of conferment of graduation diplomas.

6. Archival of records and dossiers of issuance of duplicates:

a/ The diploma or certificate issuance register recording for monitoring the issuance of duplicates, the diploma or certificate duplicate issuance registers and the registers of certification of papers� copies shall be preserved strictly and archived for a long period. The dossiers of issuance of diploma and certificate duplicates (including all papers submitted by the requesters when requesting the issuance of duplicates) must be archived for a long period.

b/ The educational institutions competent to issue the original diplomas and certificates and the duplicates thereof must apply safety measures to prevent and fight fires, moisture and rodents harming the dossiers of issuance of duplicates, the diploma or certificate issuance registers, the duplicate issuance registers, and the registers for certification of papers� copies.

7. The heads of the educational institutions competent to issue diploma and certificate duplicates and/or certify papers shall be responsible before law for the legality of, and organizing, the duplicate-issuing and paper-certifying processes at their own units.

8. The offices assigned to issue duplicates and/or certify papers must uphold the sense of responsibility in their work, must not cause troubles, and must collect fees as prescribed. While performing their duplicate-issuing tasks and powers, if the persons who carry out the procedures for issuing duplicates and/or certifying papers, the signers of duplicates or the signers of papers for certification lack the sense of responsibility or deliberately breach the provisions of this Circular and other legal documents on the issuance of diplomas and certificates, they shall, depending on the seriousness of their breaches, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability according to the provisions of law.

9. If the requesters of the issuance of duplicates or certification of papers alter the papers or use forged papers for this purpose, they shall, depending on the seriousness of their violations, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or examined for penal liability according to the provisions of law.

This Circular takes effects as from July 1, 2002. The previous regulations contrary to this Circular shall all be repealed.

If meeting any problems in the course of implementation, the provincial/municipal Education and Training Services, schools and educational institutions should report them to the Ministry of Education and Training for examination and timely settlement.

For the Minister of Education and Training

Vice Minister
LE VU HUNG